Boating with a five year old

It was a hot and humid day, when my daughter and I decided to tackle one of the things still left on our "50 things to do this summer" list. We packed a lunch and water bottles, and my daughter brought along white bear and kitty, with a complete wardrobe for kitty in a shoe box, as well as a jewelry box with all the essensials, lipgloss, coins and jewelry. We were loaded down this way, even as we struggled to put on our life jackets and pick up our oars. The instructor told us that if we both leaned to one side, everything in the boat would fall in as it tipped, and would sink to the bottom, never to be seen again! That was enough for my little girl to decide to leave all of her prized possessions safely on shore!

I really think that this talk and talk of the waterfall to avoid had spooked her, and she no longer really wanted to do this, but she was a good sport, and other than very light grumbling, she didn't say anything.

We headed out, in a zig zag pattern, away from the safety of shore. The lilypads and their flowers were interesting, and my daughter was convinced that the fish were holding onto her oar with each stroke. We made our way to the front part of the lake, where I stopped to take 1 or 2 pictures, and as I did, our canoe turned around! It was pretty much the only break I got. Although I took that as our cue to turn back, I found the return trip to be much more difficult than the trip away from the docks. I don't know if it was because I was so much heavier than my 5 year old, or because I was really the only one rowing, or what...but we kept getting turned around by the current and the wind. We even went toward the side shore several times, although as they had told us to, we were trying to avoid the sides due to debri in the water which you can get caught in. I was thankful that we were having trouble on the way back rather than the way out, as I had gotten better at my paddling by now. I may have given up if it had been that hard from the beginning, even though I'm not a quitter.

Each time I stopped for just a second to take a picture of my daughter's back, the boat would turn! I did get quite a workout! I loved feeling the water splash across me as I switched the oar from my left to my right. It felt really good on such a hot day! It was also nice to share this experience with my daughter, even though once she was talking to me and then asked, "Why aren't you talking to me, Mommy?" To which I replied, "Because I'm trying to keep this boat going straight and it takes all my concentration and strength, honey!"

My tip of the day? If you feel it would be a good experience to take your young child out on a boat, you may want to consider a Kayak. This way, you have 2 oars on one, and don't have to switch sides, and the kayaks are smaller, there isn't such a big space between you and your child. I imagine that this would have been much easier.